Farewell
by ronniekins77
Summary: When it's too late to do anything but glide around, halfway between life and death, someone brings comfort to the girl he used to know. Written Aug. 2003. AU.


**A/N: **Written between OOTP and HBP. Definitely, definitely AU now. I truly apologize for how awful my writing was during this time.

--

Ron Weasley walked slowly to the graveyard, a horrible ache in his chest. He would go to "the grave", like he had every day for the past two years. Pain would shoot through every vein of his body as he thought about all the times they had shared together, and the fact that they would never be able to have times like those again.

He had never confessed his love to her--he regretted that now. He knew that she had loved him as well, but he still couldn't bring himself to say the words. It burned him now, ate him up inside.

She was gone forever. They lived in separate worlds now.

In one instant, they were torn apart, never to explore their love. After the death, Ron had wanted to kill every single death eater for doing this to him, for taking her away from him, but he could not. He knew her reaction to that sort of behavior would be disapproving. She wouldn't want him to be a murderer.

As Ron reached the black metal gate entering the graveyard, he stopped. Standing in the snow, about fifty feet away, the grave stood. His chest heaved and he felt like crying, but the tears didn't come. They had never come.

Silhoutted by the moonlight that shined against the black sky, Ron saw his best friend Harry Potter by the grave. He looked very ill, even from a distance, and Ron could see the grief that "the death", as he liked to call it, was bringing upon him. Ron inched closer and stood behind his friend. "My best mate," he heard Harry mutter as he disapparated.

Another figure appeared by the grave and Ron's heart pounded. The figure knelt down on the ground, and began to sob heavily, rocking back and forth. Ron hid behind a tree, even though he wanted to comfort her. He knew she wanted to grieve in privacy. His turn would come soon.

"Why did you leave us?" she cried, tears racing down her cheeks. She pulled her knees closer to her chest and sobbed harder, if that was possible. Ron wanted to say hello to her, but he didn't. She hadn't come to the grave since the funeral two years ago, and it was obviously painful for her. She had lost her best friend.

She wiped her face free of tears and began to speak in choked whispers. "I'm sorry I haven't come, I hope you'll forgive me...It just hurts so much... You know, I'm married now?" She laughed bitterly. "I don't love him, but I'll stop about that. You probably don't want to hear about my love life..."

She paused and she began to cry again. Ron fought every impulse inside of him to go to her. "I have kids too," she sobbed, her cries filling the graveyard. Again, Ron felt like crying, but no tears came. "Sammie--he's the oldest, he's six. Then there's Kara, she's four...why did you leave me this way? WHY?"

She was shaking violently and Ron had slumped on the ground, not able to look at her. He concentrated on the twigs and snow on the ground instead. Funny, he didn't even feel the cold.

"You know, Harry tells me that you're a ghost. He says you go and visit him sometimes. Why don't you ever visit me? Was I that bad of a friend?" Her face was red now, her face was puffy, and she sounded like she was truly suffering. "There's something else too," and now her voice was filled with curiousity and concern. "After you die, you're only a ghost if you're sad...what did you have to be sad about? You had everything..."

Ron's breath caught in his throat as he stared at her. Before he could stop himself, he had gone over to where she was. When she saw him, her eyes widened and she gasped. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," he said quickly, looking at the ground.

"Oh _Ron_," she cried, burying her head in her cloak. "I-I didn't know you were here...have you been waiting long...I've been rambling, I know..."

"That's good for you. Your thoughts not being in order...it helps you say what you feel." He glanced at the grave and then at her. "I never said what I felt."

"Of course you did Ron," she said. "You were always speaking your mind!" Her tears had subsided and she looked relieved and overjoyed to see him. She stared into his eyes and said softly, "I've missed you so much, Ron."

"I know...I'm sorry Hermione." His voice cracked.

"So what were you so sad about that you had to go and become a ghost?" said Hermione with a slight smile in her voice.

"I never told you that I loved you," he replied seriously, reaching down his hand to stroke her cheek. His hand went right through her face, and he saw the tears well up in her eyes again.

"I love you Ron. In life and in death."

"I love you Hermione, and we'll be together soon."

"How do you know?" she said through fresh tears.

"I can feel it. I have a sixth sense now." He laughed dryly, and even Hermione managed a small smile.

"Ron...I...I'm so sorry...for everything," Hermione sobbed. "It's all my fault. You died because of me, and if you had lived...we--we'd be together, and you wouldn't be parading around as a ghost...and I--I wouldn't have to be with Krum...and..."

Ron's heart broke at the sound of her voice cracking. "It's okay, I probably would have died anyway," he murmured, trying to wrap an arm around her. "Damn it, I want to touch you!"

His frustration echoed throughout her as well. "If I hadn't killed you, you'd be able to."

"Hey," he said sharply, wishing he could shake her by the shoulders, "You didn't kill me, okay? I don't ever want to hear you say that again."

"But it's true! Or don't you remember?"

_Ron was lying, bloody, on the ground of the Quidditch Pitch. He could feel himself dying, slipping away from the world. He knew that a lot of his bones were broken, he could feel the pain racking his body. He moaned as it shot through him._

At least I'm dying beside my two best friends, _he thought vaguely, looking to his left. Harry was there, also covered in blood, also moaning with pain... "He won," Ron heard Harry mutter, "That idiot couldn't even kill me himself, had to give the Death Eaters orders to finish us off with 'brutal tactics.'" He laughed bitterly, and his head, looking quite smashed, turned to Ron. "Tell Ginny I love her, mate..."_

Ron shook his head and reached over to grip his best friends's hand. "No," he rasped, "You tell her...you need to live...defeat that bastard..."

"You expect me to defeat Voldemort like this? With half of my leg ripped off and blood spurting from my veins?" said Harry. "Ron, I'm a goner."

"No!" said Ron hoarsely. "You are all we have left! Someone will help you, I know they will! If anyone's a goner, it's me."

"You?" said Harry forcefully, coughing up blood in Ron's face. "No, you need to be with Hermione...she can't live without you."

"She doesn't need me, stop talking rubbish. Get up and catch that bloke before it's too late," said Ron firmly.

"Oh Harry! Ron!" said a voice. They knew it instantly to be Ginny's. She ran over to them, tripping over Neville Longbottom's body in the process. "Oh my God," she said, noticing their state. "I'll find you help!"

She began to run but Harry grabbed her arm. "No, Ginny, just stay with us," he pleaded.

"Don't listen to him--get him help," Ron said loudly, oblivious to the pain now surging through his body.

Ginny looked horrified, but she wrenched her arm from Harry's grip, said, "You hold on, you hear?" and dashed away.

Harry and Ron lay in silence waiting for her return. "Harry!" came a squeaky voice.

"I'm fine," Harry grunted. "Colin, go help the others."

"Don't worry, I--"

He never finished his sentence. A green light hit him in the back, his eyes glazed over, and he fell on top of Harry, landing on his leg. Harry screamed in pain, and tried pushing him off.

"Stop moving, let me!" demanded a voice, and Ron knew it was Hermione. In the dark, he could see that blood was trickling down her face and it was up and down her front, but she didn't seem hurt too awfully bad. Ginny was behind her. They both heaved Colin off of Harry and sat on the ground beside Harry and Ron.

Hermione was tearing off parts of her skirt and tying them firmly around Harry's wounds and Ginny was doing the same. "They took our wands," Ginny explained.

"Ginny, don't waste your time on me, I--"

"Shut up Ron, you're not going to die!" said Ginny, but she was sobbing hysterically.

"Ginny look out!" shouted Ron and Harry, but a Death Eater had already stunned her. As he turned his wand on Hermione, she jumped up, yelled "Accio wand!" and stunned him with his own wand.

Hermione furiously waved her wand at Harry and Ron, closing open gashes and trying to stop blood flow. That was about all she could do; potions were needed for extensive injuries. "Hermione, stop," said Harry, and surprisingly, she did. "Help the others."

"Once I'm done with you," she told him.

Ron felt himself slipping into darkness, ebbing away... "Harry, you need to defeat him," he croaked.

Harry's chest suddenly heaved and he gasped for air. "Harry, no...you can't go yet!" said Hermione fiercly, shaking him by his shoulders. There was a fire of determination that burned stronger than Ron had ever seen in her eyes. Faster than lightning, she drew something from the pocket of her robes. Ron saw that it was a small bottle. She pried Harry's mouth open and dumped it's contents into his mouth.

Suddenly, miraculously, his face was free of blood, his leg was back to normal his head wasn't smashed; he looked as though he had never been hurt at all.

He examined his body for awhile, shook his head in disbelief, and jumped up. He whipped out his wand, pointed it at Ginny, and said, "Ennervate!" She woke up. "Hermione, you shouldn't have--b-but thank you," Harry croaked at Hermione.

"Oh Harry!" said Ginny, wrapping her arms around him. She withdrew quickly and stared at Ron. "You hold on, you hear?" she said.

Ron grinned and to his surprise, it didn't hurt. He couldn't feel the pain anymore. "Goodbye Ginny," he whispered. Her eyes tearful she bent down and hugged him. "Make sure Harry defeats him," Ron said to her and she nodded grimly.

"Harry, let's go!" she yelled, dragging Harry away. Harry cast Ron a meaningful look over his shoulder and raced away.

"Hey Hermione," he said quietly. She was holding his hand and tears were in her own eyes. Ron knew he had to tell her--before it was too late. "Hermione, I--"

He could see her eyes shining with hope that he would live, and he couldn't bring himself to say the words. "--I'm glad you're here with me," he finished.

She kissed the hand she was holding, and said, "I'm glad too. Ron, I need to say this before it's too late. You see, I--you're my best friend in the entire world, which is why I never told you before, but Ron, I think that I--I know that I...Ron? Ron? RON!"

She was shaking his body hard, but it was too late. He was gone, his ghost had silently formed, invisible, and now glided among the trees, watching the scene.

"No, Ron, no!" Hermione sobbed, hugging his body close. "Please, you can't be--I never...Ron? No, no, NO!" She cried even harder, and back in the trees, Ron was feeling pain, and he wanted to cry, but the tears didn't come.

"But, Ron, I-I--I love you, no, don't go...don't leave me, oh, I love you so much...no, please no..."

It was too much, Ron decided, too much to watch, and so he glided away through the trees. Away from the smell of blood, the sound of screams, the sight of death, the taste of tears, and the feel of pain and suffering.

Yes, Ron remembered that night clearly.

Hermione broke him from his memory with her sobs. "It was up to me...and--and I chose Harry over you!"

"Which was the right thing to do! He, and he alone, could have defeated Voldemort, and you--you made sure that happened! Don't go blaming yourself for it! I couldn't bear that," he added softly, boring into her brown eyes. "Do it for me Hermione, for me..."

"For you," she repeated quietly. "I'd do anything for you."

He smirked somewhat. "Ditto," he said. "Hermione, I have to go now. See you."

"Wait, please don't go!"

He turned around mid-step. "Hermione," he sighed. "They took you away from me...you've moved on--"

"No, I hate Viktor!"

"What I meant is, you need to move on. You don't hate Viktor, either, and you know it. If you hated him, you wouldn't have married him and had kids. You feel guilty, like you're insulting my memory or something," said Ron wisely.

"But I don't love him as much as I love you!"

"I know that, but he adores you...even if I do think he is a bastard," Ron muttered. "But anyway, you can't turn your back on life just because I'm dead."

"Can't I?"

"I don't want you to. I don't want you to forget me, no I don't want that, but I want you to live and you can't do that in my shadow," he pointed out.

"Is this the last time I'm going to see you?" she whispered.

"No, you'll probably see me at Hogwarts from time to time, or at least your kids will," Ron assured her. "And, when you die an old lady, you'll be with me for all eternity."

"I want to be with you right now," she said desperately.

"But you can't. We'll be together when the time comes...oh, and tell Vicky I said hi. Goodbye Hermione Granger, I love you."

And with that, he floated out of the graveyard.

--

In the years to come, he was happy to learn that Hermione had moved on. Five years later, at the age of thirty-five, she divorced Krum and two years after that, she married Seamus Finnagan. Seamus's wife, Lavendar, had been killed by the few Death Eaters that still roamed around.

Sammie and Kara earned two more siblings, Ron and Seamus Jr. All of them grew up to lead healthy lives. Sammie remained single, Kara married a Muggle, Seamus Jr. married Parvati's son, Joseph, and Ron married Lily Potter, Harry and Ginny's son.

Hermione was able to watch her children grow up to hold strong careers, as she had done. Around the time she divorced Krum, she founded the Wizard Chess Foundation, and dedicated it to Ron. Famous wizards from all around the world would join and compete in the "barbaric" game and the winner received 1000 Galleons prize money to give to any charity of their choice. It became quite a hit and she continued it until her dying day, at which time, Kara took over.

At thirty eight, in addition to starting S.P.E.W worldwide, also in Ron's name, she and Seamus took jobs in Department of Mysteries. However, after a fatal accident some years later that almost killed Seamus, she decided to teach at Hogwarts instead. Eventually, after twenty years teaching Transfiguration, she replaced Minerva McGonagall as Headmistress.

Ron would check in on her, time to time, and find that she had returned back to herself, and that made him the happiest man alive (or is it dead?). But even among the smiles and the laughter, Ron knew that she still suffered from a broken heart. Once or twice, he had came to her home to watch her sleep, only to see that she murmured his name and had nightmares of his death. Even in her old age.

When Seamus passed when she seventy-seven, she had cried her heart out and had turned to Harry for comfort. Harry had also needed comforting, Ginny had died that year as well. At this time, Ron had visited them. They had complimented him on how young he looked ("Yeah, I'm a ghost, so...), and they had had a hearty conversation over tea ("Er, don't think I can drink that.), and taken a walk, talking about their lives ("In my case, death--goodness, Hermione, are you wearing that horrid perfume I bought you in fifth year?")

Hermione died at one hundred and one. Surprisingly, she was a ghost. Ron was quite befuddled, she had lead a happy life--what did she have to be sad about?

"You never touched me," she had whispered softly that day.

"Well, Hermione, we _still_ can't touch each other!" said Ron, exasperated.

"Stop bickering you two. Honestly, haven't you tired from it all this time?" said Harry, who had entered the room. He drew out his wand. "_Frieakshra_," he muttered under his breath, pointing it at them.

"Harry, what the devil--"

Ron stopped abruptly when he noticed Hermione touching his cheek. He looked down at her and gasped, his breath gone from him. Standing before him was not the old woman she had become, but the seventeen girl he once knew. Her hair was bushy again and her brown eyes glowed with warmth, and also with some confusion about what had just happened.

"We're--we're young," Hermione stuttered, just as Ron said, "alive". He raised his arms and stared amazingly at his hands, which were solid and not see through. Hermione did the same thing and then, simultaneously, they both turned to Harry, who was leaning against the door to the room, his boyish grin shining through his wrinkles and his green eyes, staring at him for answers.

"You know, they say I'm more powerful than Dumbledore...d'you reckon they're right?" he said casually.

"H-Harry, how did you do this?" said Hermione, running her hands through her hair, checking to see that it was real.

"Ah, see that's between me and Seamus."

"S-Seamus?"

"Planned it along time ago," Harry muttered. "Now, start touching each other--okay, that sounded queer, but you know what I mean...don't look at me like that...the spell wears off in twenty-four hours...yeah, I'll be going now."

He walked out of the room, and Hermione and Ron gazed at each other for what seemed like an eternity. "Er," said Ron.

"Er..."

"So..."

"Yes?"

"Oh, and if you don't mind, stay away from my bedroom," said Harry who had just burst through the door. He chuckled, "Okay, I'm leaving now for good, I'm staying at Lily and Ron's for awhile. They don't know you're dead, or...merlin, you know what I mean!" And for the second time, he left the room rather awkwardly.

Ron and Hermione turned back to each other and once again, Hermione slowly raised her hand to his cheek, as though testing to see if this was really real. She let out a shaky breath, she had been holding her breath the whole time and withdrew her hand quickly. She was scared beyond words. She had wanted this ever since she was twelve years old, and now it was actually happening. She looked down at the ground and began to stutter wildly, "Ron, I-I--er, I--"

As if knowing what she was thinking, Ron also let out a husky breath and grabbed her hand, pulling it back to his cheek. She looked up from the floor, tears glistening in her eyes. Ron was startled to feel tears prickling in his own. "Oh Hermione," he whispered, hugging her tightly.

Their body temperatures seemed to rise immediately, and soon Hermione was bawling with happiness and Ron was kissing every inch of her face. Each kiss ignited fires that could not burn out, and then slowly, Hermione kissed him on the lips hungrily. Passion overwhelmed them and both were the happiest they had ever felt.

Two hours, they lay hot and sweaty in the bed Harry used for guests. A thin pale blue sheet covered their bodies and they were snuggled close together. Hermione gently rubbed her hands through Ron's flaming hair as his hand lazily traveled up and down her arm. "I love you...oh God, Ron, I love you so much it's painful," Hermione told him softly.

"And love doesn't grow on trees," Ron grinned.

Hermione slapped his arm playfully. "Ow!" he said mockingly, rubbing his arm furiously. "Man, have I wanted to do that for a long time," Hermione muttered.

"Yeah, I bet you have," said Ron, pulling her closer for another kiss.

"I don't want to be a ghost anymore," breathed Hermione, snuggling her head in his chest. "I just want to lay like this forever."

Ron sighed, agreeing wholeheartedly, and entertwined his fingers with hers. "We lived good lives," he said simply. "Our time is up. But at least we'll still have each other. We love each other."

"And at least you would have touched me."

--

A brilliant 22 hours later, Hermione and Ron became ghosts again. Then, to their astonishment, they vanished into oblivion and took their place among the stars. Seamus and Ginny, along with a whole lot of people they knew were there already, happier than they ever were in their lives. Seamus danced gracefully with Lavendar, his true love, across the sky. Ginny watched down over her children and over Harry, patiently waiting for him to join her.

Ron and Hermione went to her. Ginny laughed and cried when she saw them, and then turned her attention to the world below. Harry was at Ron and Lily's house. All of Hermione's children, Seamus Jr., Kara, and Sammie were all there.

"She's gone, isn't she?" asked Kara softly, her eyes brimming with tears.

Harry nodded briefly. "But she's with Ron Weasley--did she ever tell you about him?"

"I was named after him!" said Ron, while Lily patted his arm, smiling to herself.

"Every day," added Sammie.

Harry grinned. "They were my best friends in the whole world. They were meant to be together and now they are. Don't worry about your mum, I'm not." Harry left the room, and Hermione saw her children begin to cry, as old as they were.

But Hermione and Ron and Ginny kept their gazes on Harry. He wasn't crying, but rather, smiling and chuckling to himself. Then his face grew serious and he let out a small sigh, and looking toward the heavens, he said one word:

"Farewell."


End file.
